Chapter 171: Before Judgment Begins
Easter~
"Jacob," I called silently, not even sure how—but knowing he would hear me. My heart pounded like thunder beneath my ribs. "Please. I need you."
I didn’t know how I did it—how I reached for him across whatever veil separated us—but I knew he was close and he would hear me. I felt him. In the way the air stilled, in the way the pressure around my heart loosened just a little. Like the earth had taken a breath for me.
There was no thunder. No flash of light. Just a knock.
A sharp, steady knock at the front door.
Everyone stilled. Even Papa.
The man who had blocked my escape—the tall, broad-shouldered stranger with the flat expression—glanced at the door. His hand twitched toward the knob as if some instinct beyond his control compelled him. He looked back at my father, waiting for instruction. But Papa only narrowed his eyes at the door, unmoving, as though the knock itself had insulted him.
The man opened the door.
And in walked Jacob.
He didn’t storm, didn’t rage—he glided in like the winter wind itself, quiet and cold and impossible to stop. His tall frame filled the doorway with calm fury, like he was made of the storm that was about to break this house apart. The golden light from the hallway kissed his tousled black hair and caught in the warmth of his eyes—but those warm eyes weren’t gentle now. No, they burned.
Every hair on my body stood. I couldn’t breathe. He was like an angel.